De Karaïben zijn Indianen die de kuststreken van de drie Guyana’s op het Zuid-Amerikaanse continent bewonen, Guyana, Frans-Guyana en Suriname. Hun aantal is het grootst in Suriname, de meeste dorpen bevinden zich langs de Marowijne rivier.
The Caribs are Indians who live in the coastal regions of the three Guyanas on the South American continent: Guyana, French Guyana and Dutch Guyana (Surinam). Surinam is where most of them live; most Carib villages are by Marowijne river.
Carib earthenware is made of pulverized clay blended with ashes from tree bark. Now these ashes would make a jar somewhat porous, so that it would ‘sweat’ and thus, as a result of the limited extent of evaporation, would keep the water cool. The clay blended with ashes is kneaded to rolls, which are put on top of each other and then made into a whole. Then, the jar is first dried in the shadow, and then in the sun. Finally, it is burnt in fire. The Carib make water bottles, small double or triple bottles, bowls and plates for private use. For the trade with tourists, they make various sorts of animal figures. These are imitations of the animals surrounding them in the Surinam jungle or animals scratching around in the yard: pigs, dogs, tortoises, but also caimans, snakes, birds and armadillos.
In addition to other Carib objects, Museon also has a fine collection of earthenware. The Caribs gave a part of this collection to Queen Juliana during a state visit in 1955. A few years later, she gave this collection to Museon.